


Meteoric

by indigo_inkpot



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: established andreil, voltron: legendary defender au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-19 23:52:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18980920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indigo_inkpot/pseuds/indigo_inkpot
Summary: When Andrew Minyard, Danielle Reynolds and Palmetto Site’s Lead Scientist David Wymack are declared missing: presumed dead, they leave behind more than just empty simulators and forgotten labs.





	Meteoric

**Author's Note:**

> Alternatively titled: Like I Didn’t Have Enough Work To Do Without Another AU fic.
> 
> Not scheduled for regular updates (like every other AU)  
> Already planned...mostly (like every other AU)
> 
> Title is an obligatory song reference because apparently I do that a lot 
> 
> Thanks to the friend who screams with me about this AU, you’re inspiring this whole story

“Kevin, I swear to God if you don’t stop banking right on that final turn I’m going to puke and I will make sure it’s straight down the back of your flight suit.” Nicky whimpered, pressing a sweaty water bottle to his pounding head.

Kevin scowled at the flight data on his tablet and Aaron, sitting against the doorway of the sim, offered no argument. After all, Nicky was right. Kevin was taking the turn too early; every other team running the same sim had proven that sticking straight until the dust cleared from the sensors and the craft could orient itself was the best strategy. Kevin was second guessing, as usual, trying to rely on the feel of a ship that wasn’t actually there, just the gyros of a simulator. 

Of course, nobody but Nicky was brave (or stupid, if you asked Aaron) enough to criticise Kevin Day on his flying. The guy was famous for his piloting pedigree, and he knew it. Problem was, instinct and genetics meant nothing in the Garrison flight simulators, and their unfortunate pairing meant all three of them were barely hanging on to their places in the academy. 

Aaron didn’t even want to be here. He joined the academy because of their promises that anyone who applied under the medical programme would be fast-tracked to a degree. Well, he did it for that and...Andrew.

But Andrew wasn’t here anymore. And Nicky was all Aaron had left, so he’d transferred out of the medical course and into general cadet training, taking his brother’s place. 

Which of course meant teaming up with Andrew and Nicky’s navigator-turned-pilot. And desperately trying to ignore anything related to the news cycle. The Kerberos expedition loss had been on every talk show and news bulletin for months now.

Neil didn’t help, of course, by disappearing off to the middle of fucking nowhere like he did. He’d always been the flighty type, but the moment Andrew left orbit he started taking it to a whole new level. Then, one day, he was gone. He left Nicky a key and some instructions, plus an ancient comm device “in case of emergencies” (what’s a bigger fucking emergency than what happened to Andrew huh Neil, what are you thinking is going to happen that could possibly be worse than-) but his and Andrew’s bunk was cleared out. Aaron didn’t even want to process the fury that Neil had taken his brother’s stuff too, he had a whole bunch of shit to ignore before that even crossed his mind.

So here he is, career derailed, brother probably dead on a rock at the ass-end of space, about to fail out of general cadet training with his motion-sick engineer cousin and a guy so smart he’s circled back around to painfully stupid. Aaron’s day could not get any worse.

* * *

His day does get a lot worse.

The rooftop ~~was~~  is always Andrew’s go-to space. He‘s so fucking contrary; a pilot who‘s afraid of heights, and his most frequented hideout happens to be the tallest roof on site. He had a bunch of stuff stashed up here at one point; a datapad, junk food, all kinds of contraband that Wymack would’ve signed anyone else up for a rerun of basic training for even mentioning the use of in conversation. But Wymack is gone too, and so is a lot of Andrew’s stash. Neil, probably, although there’s nothing to say it wasn’t the new recruits, little shits.

He’s up here with Nicky and Kevin, polishing off the last of the smuggled alcohol before tomorrow’s exam, and getting a head start on mourning his career. Aaron’s gotten real good at mourning recently, but a little more practice never hurt anyone. 

“We’re gonna surprise everybody,” Nicky blurts, and Aaron lifts the bottle out of his cousin’s lap to check the proof. He’s not drunk yet and Nicky isn’t a lightweight, unless he had a pre-drink with his boyfriend before Erik went to bed. Not likely, but he can’t think of another explanation for the shit Nicky’s suddenly spouting about exceeding expectations.

Yeah right, Minyards and Hemmicks are chronic disappointments. The only things they’ve ever exceeded are speeding limits and numbers of second chances people are willing to give them.

“I think we already surprised them with that all-time low score on the sim last semester,” Kevin sulked, plucking the bottle from Aaron’s hands and taking a swig (yeah, okay, Aaron’s not drinking any more of that, he shares enough with these two, he’s not sharing their spit as well).

Aaron slowly tunes out the conversation from there, as Nicky and Kevin debate their team’s worst moments. He lets his gaze rest somewhere just in front of the distant perimeter fence, watching the glass and metal buildings lose their evening glow as the sun sets. 

Except one building. Which is weird, because it’s after curfew and the accommodations are in the opposite direction. Nobody should be near that area of the site.

But someone is- two someones, actually. They come staggering out of the building and around the back.

Aaron is on his feet and heading down the fire escape before Nicky and Kevin can even yell after him. It might be late, he might be a little tipsy and the light might be fading, but he only knows one asshole with hair that particular shade of red.

Neil is back.

* * *

Palmetto Site is a fucking maze, and for good reason. It’s designed to make sure that if you don’t know exactly where you’re going, you’ll never find out how to get there. The architect probably sold it as a feature of the design. Andrew commented that it was convenient of them to make the layout of the site a hazing ritual for fresh meat so the older cadets didn’t have to go to the effort of organising a field trip. But it sure is helpful now, because he knows exactly where Neil is headed, and how to cut him off.

Aaron can hear Nicky and Kevin on his tail, Nicky cursing and breathing heavily.

He makes it to the junction with half a second to spare, cutting Neil off just metres from the fence. The lacklustre automatic lighting senses their movement and finally flickers into life, illuminating them all. 

Aaron almost wishes it hadn’t, wishes he could take back the decision to chase Neil, to go to the roof, to join this fucking place, because the guy slung over Neil’s shoulders and barely breathing is his brother.

Andrew’s alive, and Aaron isn’t sure if that’s a good thing.

**Author's Note:**

> As of posting this it’s after 1am and I have two weeks of nothing but deadlines, so the next chapter won’t be up before...probably the 5th of June.
> 
> If you like it, let me know, I usually feel more motivated to finish fics when I know people like them!


End file.
